In memoriam: Roger L. Omanson

A great loss to the BT community and humanity in general. Roger's knowledge and skills were only surpassed by his gentleness and generosity.

Roger was of course every bit of an outstanding scholar, and rightfully known for his biblical work especially on the NT texts, but also for his work on UBS handbooks, co-authored by John Ellington, which are....sigh...finally the kind of handbooks we all (consultants and translators) could relate to and find help in...but beyond that...as James has so eloquently expressed, Roger had that great generosity of spirit, one of the UBS champions (and there are/were not many) in knowing how to affirm people and bring their gifts to light...Not many know that Roger worked in English, French, Spanish and Creole...and I, who fell in love with Africa 'ahead of time' in Haiti, will count his bringing the Creole Bible to completion as one of his outstanding life accomplishments...he also knew how to reproduce himself...training me...training Marlon...and who knows how many more...there is obviously too much to say...that he is more an uncle to my own children than their own blood uncles about sums it up..RIP

Roger had exemplary qualities both as a valued member of the translation community and a caring individual. We are the better for having been able to be with him and for the work he has left us. Keeping those closest to him in our thoughts and prayers.

Roger was my closest friend, the brother I never had. We met in 1975 when he came out to West Africa, the ink on his diploma not yet dry, to let us in UBS smoke him over, and he us of course. I was his boss and mentor theoretically, but I learned as much from him as he from me. Mainly we were just friends and colleagues. Roger cared about the people he worked with, and they trusted him. I'm working on a eulogy I will deliver at his memorial service. Maybe I'll post part of it when it's over.

Phil, that would be great. Thanks. I did not know Roger well but the several times I was with him he left a indelible mark. Peace to you.

Roger will truly be missed by all who knew him. His great wit, wisdom, and scholarship were gifts he shared so generously. It was a privilege to know him...

"Roger stories" are many and legendary! Who is going to recount his amateur magic shows?! He was amazing! He first astounded our children on a trip to Solomons in the early 90s with Carl Gross. He was a friend I will never forget. One of the jewels of his scholarship is A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament: An Adaptation of Bruce M. Metzger's Textual Commentary for the Needs of Translators (Greek Edition)His http://www.amazon.com/Textual-Guide-Greek-New-Testament/dp/1598562029.

Been thinking about it all day, and must contribute this: Roger loved to talk baseball, and was a Chicago Cubs fan! They just won the USA Professional Championship ("World Series") last night, and Roger would be beside himself if he had lived to see it. Sorry to interject something so trivial as baseball in the midst of deep discussions--but one thing Bible translation is about is community, and as you note, Bob, Roger was a huge part of our community!

Freddy, this isn't trivial, this is great! also Roger was a H Clinton fan...so I have been thinking a lot about him lately too...how can somebody so great be so humble?...I remember him saying, Oh Lynell, I wish I knew what you knew ...where you live...what you know about Africa...he was always saying stuff like that...this top bible scholar saying he wanted to know what I know...they are just publishing the article I wrote for his f. in French and it is about left hand in the bible, dedicated to the left handed biblical scholar ...how we do miss him....

I cheered on the Cubs throughout the World Series just for Roger's sake. It's too bad he didn't live to see that glorious seventh game last night. Kent reminds me I promised to post what I said at his memorial service a year ago. Herewith: ROGER I start with a disclaimer. Roger was my best friend. I told him he was the brother I never had, and he felt the same way. So all my remarks today are totally biased. I met Roger in 1975 when he came out to Nigeria so we in the United Bible Societies and Roger could smoke each other over. He is one of about two people who knew Veda my wife and me before we were even engaged. That’s how far back we went. At the end of that visit with me to Nigeria and Ghana, he wasn’t sure if he could handle the difficulties of the job or deal with life in West Africa. I told him that if he didn’t feel like life in Africa was for him he was actually normal. He shouldn’t feel bad about turning it down. People like me and John Ellington were the abnormal ones, sort of weird. Well, he decided to be abnormal too. Maybe “unusual” is a better word, but those of us who thrived in that environment were exceptions. Roger and I shared a lot of things. We traveled together all over West Africa, not just the cities but the villages out in the bush. We stayed in really bad hotels, missionary guest houses, the back rooms of bush clinics, even in garages where people put in beds for us. We climbed down the famous Dogon cliffs in Mali, went to Timbuctoo and rode a couple of camels, drove across northern Cameroon and Southern Chad, traveled together to Hong Kong and Bangkok – you get a part of the picture. We had confrontations with police in Nigeria, military in Mali, border officials in Cameroon, internal security in Benin. We worked with translators of every church: Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Baptists of every stripe, Methodists, Presbyterians, African independent churches. We worked with missionaries and people translating the Bible into their own language. Most had very little Bible training; in fact the educational background of most of them was very limited. We did a lot of work. The life of a translation consultant was never a 40 hour a week job. Often our translators tired before we did, but since our time with them was so limited, we put in the long hours every week. We ate some strange foods. But it was important to always eat what people served us – their food. I remember one time in Liberia when we knew that the translators we were working with were going to honor us with monkey, we asked them to not put the monkey’s hand across the plate of the visiting guest of honor since he was new to West Africa. Let him guess what kind of meat it was. For your information, it tasted like chicken. People liked Roger. Even though he was presenting them with an understanding of the Bible that often was far from their conservative upbringing, they accepted what he recommended. For one thing, they recognized he knew what he was talking about, for another, he was skilled in presenting very sophisticated material to people with limited background, doing it in such a way they could grasp it and apply it. They accepted him because they knew he cared, cared about them, cared about their translations. But most of all, they accepted it because they liked him, and with that came trust. Yes, people liked Roger with his warm engaging personality and his wonderful sense of humor. He would not have been a successful consultant otherwise. They also liked his magic. Well, usually. We did a workshop in the Ivory Coast one time, and one night after dinner he entertained people with some of his magic. Three days later, the director came to Roger with a problem. One of the ladies, a Swiss, knew it couldn’t possibly be skill – it had to be spirit power – so she’d spent three days in prayer for Roger’s soul. For his part, the director knew it was skill, not supernatural, but, he asked, when did Roger ever have time to hone his skills? “Well,” Roger said, “often when I’m on a flight I’ll take out a pack of cards, close my eyes and start just cutting the deck and shuffling it, and then after 30 or 40 minutes, I’ll check to see if the cards are still in the right order.” “Oh, my,” the director said, “when I’m on flight I seize the opportunity to witness to my seatmate about my faith.” Roger couldn’t always win. I was Roger’s boss for many years, and theoretically in the early days, his mentor. But I learned as much from him as he did from me, and our relationship was colleagues, not boss and subordinate. We discussed just about everything over the years: politics, theology, sports. I grieved with him over the Cubs. We pretty much agreed on things, and when we didn’t, we educated each other. Most of all, we laughed. A lot. More than once after a day of struggle and stress when we were dealing with people who didn’t really want to accept what we were bringing up in their translations, making our time very stressful, we would use our time late that night when we were alone exchanging really bad jokes, one after the other, and just laughing like idiots. Anyone who heard us must have thought we were crazy. Well, we weren’t. But we had fun. And even when there was no stress, laughing at bad jokes or at sad politicians was still us. I mourn his pain and suffering and his death. But I have so many good memories. I was enriched by his life and friendship. And so were all of you. Therefore, even as we mourn his passing, let us celebrate the time he spent with us and the love that he had for us and we for him. Be blessed, Roger, and rest in peace.